Having routed the bandits and finally killed the persistent Roderick, Cassandra returns home with her father. "Laguz", she finally has a name to put to her strange appearance and with Volug, Jaul and Kazim she plans to depart for her homeland as soon as she has packed her possessions. Drake is reluctant to let his daughter go but he can't deny her the chance to see her homeland and find her people.
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Chapter 3: Cassandra's Departure
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Drake wanted to go with his daughter, he really did, but he had many responsibilities here at home. His heart was heavy, watching his daughter head off, possibly never to return, but he kept a strong face as he saw her off. "Just...take care of yourself, Cassie, alright?" he said to her, embracing her in a tight hug. "I love you and I hope you find the answers you seek."
"Thanks dad," Cassandra returned his hug. "I promise I'll come home someday." Cassandra couldn't prevent a few tears from escaping her eyes as she pulled away, her backpack of possessions and travel supplies on her back. She moved to join Jaul, Kazim and Volug, who had changed into his human form for the moment.
"We'll do our best to keep her safe, sir." Kazim spoke up to Drake. "Harm won't come to her."
"I should hope not," the warrior replied. "Keep yourselves out of trouble. I don't want to hear about anything bad."
"Don't worry, I won't let any harm come to this beauty," Jaul said as he smiled at Cassandra.
"Right..." Cassandra rolled her eyes.
"We go," Volug said before he half-shifted into his wolf form.
As the four Laguz departed, Drake sighed and returned to his home. He had to do something to help Cassandra on her journey but what? He went into his room and dug out some of his savings.
"Not much but maybe I can hire her some help..."
A couple days later...
"I don't normally come to such a backwater place, but work is scarce these days." The hard faced mercenary sat at Drake's kitchen table. "What's the job?"
"I want you to protect my daughter. She set out to the northeast two days ago. If you hurry you should be able to catch up to her. You can’t miss her, she has silver wolf ears and a silver wolf’s tail." Drake passed the sack of gold across the table.
The cleric standing at the mercenary's side picked up the bag. "500 gold."
“It’s not much, Layla,” the mercenary said.
“But we can help, and you said work is scarce, Isaac,” Layla replied.
Isaac sighed, “Alright. We’ll do it.”
“Thank you,” Drake stood up. “There’s one extra thing I’d like you to do when you see her.” He moved over to a locked cabinet and pulled out a bundle wrapped in cloth. “Give this to my daughter when you see her. It’s an heirloom she’ll be able to use.” He passed the item to Isaac.
“Alright, I can do that,” Isaac said as he accepted the bundle.
“We’d better start moving or we won’t be able to catch her,” Layla suggested in her soft voice.
“Right,” Isaac stood up and the two of them left.
*meanwhile, with Cassandra's group...*
The anticipation for this journey was incredibly high, but Cassandra was still anxious as well. She wanted to see what Hatari was like for herself, but first they needed to get to this Outrealm Gate place which, according to the wolves, was in Sacae. Not exactly a stroll down to the park, but doable with some time.
As they emerged from the last of the treeline, Jaul dropped to the ground. “I think we should take a break now,” he suggested.
"Tired already? Well we have been walking for a while..." Kazim commented. Cassandra was grateful for a little rest herself, but part of her was too impatient to sit down for too long.
"Well the quicker we get there the faster we can rest, but I guess the final call is up to Sir Volug." she remarked.
<We should rest, if we exhaust ourselves we will be susceptible to bandit attacks> Volug said.
Kazim nodded and Jaul smiled, “Well he said we should rest, so let’s rest.”
"That's fine with me," Kazim agreed. He decided to settle down to rest his tired feet. After so much walking, it was enough to tire anybody out. Cassandra pouted a bit, but she didn't put up much of a fuss about it.
"So, what's it like in Hatari?" she asked.
Jaul smiled as he began to describe their home. "It's a nation in the desert. Our cities are all built on oasis and they give us everything we need."
"We have learned to work the land and not take any more than necessary to sustain ourselves. Laguz, beorc and branded all live there in cooperation and without prejudice," Kazim continued.
"What are branded?" Cassandra asked.
"The Branded are people that are born out of the union of a beorc and a laguz." Kazim explained. "In many parts of the world, there is heavy prejudice against them since they were, at one point, considered to be an abomination against the goddess. However, this is not so and eventually this error in history was corrected. Still, bigotry remains and some people still choose not to mate with someone out of their own race, some for more logical reasons than mere bigotry," he explained.
"Logical?" Cassandra gave Kazim a skeptical look.
Jaul coughed, "There's a side effect: after the child is born the Laguz parent loses their ability to shift."
"Oh..." Cassandra said. "Hasn't that caused problems?"
"Not in Hatari. Though the shock of losing one's shifting powers is great at first, most parents have learned to live with it and now that it's common knowledge they are able to accept the consequences before they enter into such a union. Some learn to fight even without transforming but so far none of them have attempted to use Beorc weapons," Kazim explained.
Cassandra smiled and spun her steel axe, "Well, I might be able to help them with that."
"That would certainly be interesting to see," Kazim admitted. Not many laguz ever thought about using beorc weapons. Perhaps if they lost their shifting abilities, but he doubted that was going to become a common occurrence. Still, perhaps such a thing would help to bridge the gap between their people even more.
"Hehe, I wonder…if I were a beorc, what sort of weapon would I want to use?" Jaul wondered with a chuckle.
"Perhaps a healing staff," Kazim suggested.
"Hey! I wouldn't be some healer watching everyone else tear things apart! I'd be part of the action!" Jaul protested indignantly. "I'd rather a sword or maybe even an axe! Heh, maybe get myself a wyvern too. Now -that- would be kinda awesome!"
"A wolf riding a wyvern? Now that I'd have to see," Cassandra laughed.
As Jaul and Cassandra shared a laugh at the absurdity and Kazim rolled his eyes with a playful smile, Volug suddenly stood at attention, his fur bristling slightly in anticipation. "We are being watched." he stated plainly.
"What?! Tch, I should have known there'd be other bandit groups around here," Cassandra remarked with a growl. "Looks like we'll have to deal with these scumbags ourselves."
"And I was having such a good rest as well," Jaul complained as he stood up.
The bandits were clearly visible across the plains, a small number of brigands and lancers all led by a ranger holding a heavy sword over his shoulder.
"This is going to get rather tiring," Kazim noted.
There was a sudden pulse sound as a magic pulse appeared in among the four laguz and a young man with black hair and carrying a steel sword appeared. "Good, I made it in time," he said.
"Gah?! Who the crap are you?!" Cassandra remarked in surprise, her axe already prepared to chop this strange newcomer to pieces. However, Kazim gently gripped her arm to prevent her from acting rashly, though he was still on guard himself.
"Friend or foe?" was Kzaim’s simple question.
"Friend. Your father, Drake, hired me to help you on your journey, Cassandra. My name is Isaac and my partner, Layla, just teleported me here. She will be along soon," Isaac held out a cloth wrapped bundle to Cassandra. "Your father asked me to give you this."
Cassandra accepted the gift and began to un-wrap the cloth. A letter fell from the cloth and Cassandra bent down to pick it up. She opened the letter and read it aloud for everyone.
"Cassandra, my daughter. This axe is the Wolf Beil, given to our family decades ago by house Ostia when our family served in their army. Now that you're leaving on this journey I feel you should have this. May it keep you safe." Cassandra pocketed the letter and pulled the cloth off of the axe. It was a magnificent steel weapon with the image of a howling wolf molded on to the sides of the blade.
Cassandra took the Wolf Beil in her hands and gave it a couple experimental swings. "It feels like it was made for me," she said.
"Well the gods must be smiling on us right now ‘cause your timing is perfect!" Jaul remarked, gesturing to the brigands in the distance. "Those thugs look like they're ready for a fight, and no doubt they noticed your flashy, unexpected entrance."
"They've picked up speed," Kazim noted.
The Ranger leader of the bandits raised his sword and shouted, "Kill them all. I am Glass the peerless swordsman of Sacae!" His golden eyes shined and he ran his hand back through his jet black hair.
"Looks like their leader really is itching for a fight." Cassandra smirked. Wielding her new axe, she narrowed her eyes at the oncoming brigands. "Alright, let's put these cocky bastards in their place!"
"Hold. Be wary of archers." Isaac warned them. "They could easily snipe you from a distance if you let them. Just keep your guards up." He may only have been a hired sword but he wasn't about to let his allies get themselves killed in his first battle alongside them. That would look bad on his part. He only hoped Layla would hurry up.
"Right, watch for archers," Cassandra said as she readied her new axe. She charged at the nearest lancer, dodged the first swing of his lance and leapt up, bringing the Wolf Beil down on his head, slaying him in one strike.
"Impressive power..." Kazim commented before he shifted into his wolf form. He wasn't about to let a beorc weapon show him up however, and he pounced forward, driving his teeth into the neck of a nearby fighter. Isaac was quick to jump in, slaying the man with his blade quickly.
"Don't waste time." he remarked. "Make it swift." Kazim frowned a bit at the young man's comment, but merely nodded.
"Don't have to tell me twice!" Jaul charged, shifting into his wolf form as he ran for an archer. The archer tried to fire only to have his bow bitten in half by the red wolf. Volug followed and finished him off.
"You seemed awfully concerned about making their deaths swift." Kazim commented as Isaac cut his way through another swordsman, forcing the defeated man to the ground as a corpse.
"I prefer not to draw out a fight if it can be avoided. Besides, I don't like torturing my opponents with a drawn out death." Isaac replied after a brief pause. Accepting this answer, the green wolf nodded in respect to the young man before he leaped forward at another opponent. He took a cut from the man's sword, but he managed to end the myrmidon quick enough.
"What's with their leader?" Cassandra wondered, looking at the man with a deep frown. "Those eyes don't look natural at all."
Glass observed as his men were being cut down and chewed apart by the wolves. "Bah! useless every one of you. I'll cut them down myself!" He hefted his heavy sword and charged at Cassandra.
"Those eyes of yours, they are so unnatural. What kind of freak are you!" Cassandra shouted as his sword clashed on her axe.
"I wouldn't call me a freak with those ears and tail sticking out! I am Glass, my swordsmanship makes the gods themself tremble!" Glass declared. He slipped past Cassandra's axe and managed to slice her across her front.
Cassandra just gritted her teeth and bore it. "I doubt you could make any god tremble!" she countered as she swung and missed with her new axe.
Jaul was quick to join in Cassandra's attack, leaping towards Glass and latching his jaws onto the man's arm, making him cry out in pain. "Gah, let go of me you damned mutt!" Glass cursed as he kicked the red wolf in the stomach, forcing Jaul to let go with a yip of pain. A bash from his sword was enough to knock the wolf to the ground.
"Jaul!" Cassandra called after him in concern. She growled in anger towards Glass and took her hatchet out before throwing it at him quickly. He dodged the first strike, but the axe hit him in the side on its return.
"Annoying bitch!" Glass swore as he slashed Cassandra with his sword again. Cassandra swung at him with her hatchet against, but missed.
"Mind if I cut in?" Isaac asked, slashing Glass from behind. Glass gasped and staggered forwards then backed away from the two, keeping them away from his back.
"Damn, what kind of fight is this?!" Glass remarked. "Tch, all ganging up on me, eh? Too scared to fight alone?"
"Whatever happened to being the sword that made the gods tremble? If that's the case, then fighting us shouldn't be a problem for you." Kazim replied calmly. He allowed a small smirk at the irate expression on his opponent's face.
"Gah, I'll just kill you all!" he shouted in rage before he dashed forward, slashing at Kazim, who jumped back, before he went to attack Isaac, clashing blades with the young mercenary. Cassandra went to throw her hatchet again, but she frowned to herself. She couldn't throw it without risking hitting her ally instead.
An arrow hit Cassandra in her shoulder and she gritted her teeth, yanking the arrow out she turned and threw the hatchet at the archer who had just shot her. "Damn annoying archers," she growled. Despite her rage she was starting to feel the strength ebb from her body.
Cassandra was suddenly bathed in bright blue light as she felt her strength return. A voice called from some distance, "Good I made it in time."
"Good timing Layla!" Isaac called as he dodged another swing from Glass.
"I knew this physic staff would be worth the gold," Layla commented. "At least I didn't get here too late."
"Healer?" Volug questioned, though he nodded in approval then moved closer to Layla to guard her from anyone who might take advantage of her lack of weapons.
"Cassandra, we'll let you and Isaac take care of Mr. God Sword. We'll handle the rest of the underlings!" Jaul called to her before he jumped onto the back of a nearby bandit. He bit into the back of his neck to snap it.
"I won't lose!" Glass swung at Isaac and missed.
"Quell your ego," Isaac replied as he jumped up and summersaulted, slicing his sword hard into Glasses neck. Glass only had time to gurgle as he fell, his body dissolving into a pile of dust as he fell to the ground.
Cassandra gasped in surprise when Glass's body suddenly disintegrated into nothing more than black dust. "W-What the hell!? Why did he just?" She had no idea what could have caused something like that to just occur. Isaac was scowling in confusion himself, never having seen anything quite like it before.
"That...is strange, yes, but we should assist our allies with the remaining bandits before we ponder this any further," Isaac stated.
The laguz girl merely nodded at him before she shook her head and took out Wolf Beil again. "Alright, let's get wild!" she remarked.
Volug rent asunder a brigand who came too close to Layla in one bite. The remaining bandits all fell to teeth and blades in a matter of minutes now that Glass was dead.
"Ugg!" Cassandra groaned as she kicked the dead body of a bandit away, "Are we going to be chased every step of the way to the outrealm gate?"
"This was just an unfortunate incident of being in the wrong place at the wrong time, but I'm more concerned about what precisely happened with Glass's body. You say it just...disintegrated?" Kazim asked a deep frown on his face.
"Yes. I landed a fatal blow and that's what happened. No blood just… dust." Isaac replied.
"Hmm....just what could cause that?" the green wolf wondered.
"It sounds like some sort of dark magic," Layla commented unsteadily. "Could Glass have really been some sort of undead creature?" That was a very worrisome thought. She didn't like the idea of the undead roaming the lands.
"What would an undead creature be doing leading a horde of living bandits?" Jaul asked. The very idea of that sounded ridiculous!
"Well he's dead, let's just see what we can take and move on," Cassandra said. "The sooner we get away from here the better."
"I agree, waiting here would just be asking for trouble." Isaac nodded.
After the party left the field, a woman began to move amongst the dead. She was six feet tall with long green hair, tanned skin and brown eyes. She wore the robes of a Sacaen and had a katana sheathed at her side.
She moved to stand over the pile of dust that had been Glass and just shook her head. "As I thought, Glass was merely a man with an overinflated ego. But at least he seemed to retain his personality so this was not a total loss."",
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